Getting rid of vermatids

[Icedog]

About a year ago I discovered that vermatids had infested my reef tank. I got several batches of bumblebee snails, and they're slowly taking care of the issue in the tank - about a quarter of the vermatid shells in the tank are now gone.

But a couple of months ago I noticed that the vermatids were also growing on the outside of the pipe that runs from my tank to the sump, right where the pipe enters the sump. Sorry its so ugly, but see picture below:




And today I discovered that they're also growing in the overflow box in the same manner - on the outside of the pipe! Don't have a pic of that, but you can imagine.

I've tried to remove them from the pipes in both areas with a metal brush and a screwdriver, but that didn't work too well - the shells are very hard and the pipes are in a very small area and difficult to reach.

After doing some research on this, I decided to cut my daily feeding amount by half and use some coral snow to starve and (hopefully) kill off the vermatids. But I have a few questions that I haven't been able to find answers to:

1. If the actual vermatid worms are killed, will their shells eventually dissolve? Or is manual removal of the shells necessary to get the shells to disappear?

2. Should I be worried about a vermatid infestation inside of the pipes? I'm thinking that if I see this many worms on the outside of the pipes there may be the same amount on the inside of the pipes, and possibly also in my skimmer and return motor.

3. Should I get a batch of bumblebee snails to put in the overflow box and sump return section? Will they survive? Will they consume the excess shells, or just the worms?

Any help that you all could give me would be appreciated!

 

[Cichlid Dad]

https://m.liveaquaria.com/product/565/?pcatid=565
Most everyone has them

 

[zheka757]

I have both, vermetid snails and bumblebee snails, after adding bumblebee snails is didn't see new vermetid snails as much, but as far as their shells there is nothing you can do about it other then scrape them off.

 

[lakai]

You're SOL, once they get in and explode in population, you're gonna live with them forever.

 

[Icedog]

Tks for all the info - not good news about having to scrape the shells off, but guess I'm going to have to live with that.

Any thoughts on whether or not the bumble bee snails will survive in the overflow box or the section of the sump where the vermatids are on the pipe?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Chances are, they are inside the plumbing as well. If you're having luck with bumblebee snails in the main display, just keep the population up.

On the bright side, they're good filter feeders and one might just accept that they're not in the display.

I guess I would equate it to aiptasia in my tank. I have a CBB that keeps them out of the display, but looking in my sump and overflow, they're everywhere. But I'm OK with that.

As for Your question about abandoned tubes disappearing over time. The acidity of the water would dictate that. Seeing that most reef tanks pH hover around 8, they're probably not going anywhere.

 

[Necrodaemus]

Once you have them, you have them...and it's difficult avoiding that. I've came to terms with it and have found a means of keeping them under control. Bumblebee snails are excellent at keeping them from getting big. In my system, the only ones I see are tiny and in cryptic zones.
Another thing I've found to help is by gently stirring up the surface of the sand bed to cloud the water a little which gets them to throw their nets out. Then I dose DIY coral snow (calcium carbonate powder in RODI) to get their nets covered in it which seems to choke them out and reduce reproduction. I do this just before lights out as to not reduce lighting my corals get, as it can take a few hours for the water to clear up. The added bonus to this is that the calcium carbonate suspension is a flocculant and leaves the water crystal clear the next day (just be sure to have mechanical filtration going to filter everything out).

 

[LordGman76]

Keep your water clean and they die. Having lots of corals can starve them out.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Keep your water clean and they die. Having lots of corals can starve them out.

What do you mean by keeping your water clean?

 

[exnisstech]

About a year ago I discovered that vermatids had infested my reef tank. I got several batches of bumblebee snails, and they're slowly taking care of the issue in the tank - about a quarter of the vermatid shells in the tank are now gone.

But a couple of months ago I noticed that the vermatids were also growing on the outside of the pipe that runs from my tank to the sump, right where the pipe enters the sump. Sorry its so ugly, but see picture below:




And today I discovered that they're also growing in the overflow box in the same manner - on the outside of the pipe! Don't have a pic of that, but you can imagine.

I've tried to remove them from the pipes in both areas with a metal brush and a screwdriver, but that didn't work too well - the shells are very hard and the pipes are in a very small area and difficult to reach.

After doing some research on this, I decided to cut my daily feeding amount by half and use some coral snow to starve and (hopefully) kill off the vermatids. But I have a few questions that I haven't been able to find answers to:

1. If the actual vermatid worms are killed, will their shells eventually dissolve? Or is manual removal of the shells necessary to get the shells to disappear?

2. Should I be worried about a vermatid infestation inside of the pipes? I'm thinking that if I see this many worms on the outside of the pipes there may be the same amount on the inside of the pipes, and possibly also in my skimmer and return motor.

3. Should I get a batch of bumblebee snails to put in the overflow box and sump return section? Will they survive? Will they consume the excess shells, or just the worms?

Any help that you all could give me would be appreciated!

I'm sorry but I don't see vermatid snails in the photos but my eyes aren't great. I see a bunch of the hard tube filter feeders (non scientific name lol) that grow by the thousands in dark areas of my rockwork and in the sump that is not lit.

 

[Spare time]

Those aren't vermatids

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'm sorry but I don't see vermatid snails in the photos but my eyes aren't great. I see a bunch of the hard tube filter feeders (non scientific name lol) that grow by the thousands in dark areas of my rockwork and in the sump that is not lit.

Ahh, do you think they might be a feather duster of some sort?

 

[exnisstech]

Ahh, do you think they might be a feather duster of some sort?

It's what they look like to me. I get them in dark areas. I wouldn't say they are invasive but they can make a mess in a sump if you like to keep things nice and tidy. This is just the front of my sump. This is a cryptic fuge so they thrive there.

And a close up

 

[LordGman76]

What do you mean by keeping your water clean?

Yes well they thrive in dirty tanks with too much detritus

 

[LordGman76]

If you’re referring to what’s in the new pictures that just got posted well those are feather dusters and a lot of them too.

 

[LordGman76]

Could be from feeding too much phytoplankton

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Yes well they thrive in dirty tanks with too much detritus

Im trying to ascertain what qualifies a dirty tank?

Im curious what environment can be had that vermited snails can't survive and other corals/invertebrates can.

 

[LordGman76]

Im trying to ascertain what qualifies a dirty tank?

Im curious what environment can be had that vermited snails can't survive and other corals/invertebrates

Im trying to ascertain what qualifies a dirty tank?

Im curious what environment can be had that vermited snails can't survive and other corals/invertebrates can.

So basically they feed on floating detritus mainly. If tank is to dirty with loose floating detritus; Mainly from the substrate or dirty sump. Which contain levels high enough to feed the snails.They also like phytoplankton. Of course overfeeding certain foods ones that break down into small partculate are not good. Having good filtration with detritus removal is a must.

 

[Icedog]

It's what they look like to me. I get them in dark areas. I wouldn't say they are invasive but they can make a mess in a sump if you like to keep things nice and tidy. This is just the front of my sump. This is a cryptic fuge so they thrive there.

And a close up

Wow - after seeing your pix I took a close-up of the same pipe that was in my original pic above. And now I can see that some of tubes have a fringe-like structure on their ends. See pic below - red arrows point to the fringes:

Could this be feather dusters? If not, what else could they be?

Sorry for the misdiagnosis - I just assumed that if vermatids were in the tank, they would be in other areas also.

 

[exnisstech]

Sorry for the misdiagnosis - I just assumed that if vermatids were in the tank, they would be in other areas also.

No need to apologize, we're all learning here.
I would call them feather dusters because that's what they look like to me just very small but I'm not sure of the technical name, perhaps @ISpeakForTheSeas can help out?